Kita on Kains is a licensed German bilingual daycare located in an intimate home setting with a grass lawn backyard play area. We offer a warm and nurturing environment for toddlers and preschoolers in our cozy home located on the N.Berkeley/Albany border (near Marin Ave) with a low teacher-child ratio.

We provide an age appropriate, fun-filled and play-based program. We have a daily schedule that includes indoor and outdoor free play activities and guided activities, like circle time, dance, music, story time, art and dramatic play with an emphasis on German language. Healthy organic snacks will be provided.

Parent Reviews

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I don't even know where to begin with the praise for Catrina and her team. We are so glad we found her for our son, who has been attending Kita on Kains for a year now. Catrina creates a very nurturing environment and works with a play based curriculum that allows children to thrive, cognitively and socially. My son LOVES the (German) songs she sings with him. He gets a lot of outdoor play too, and every time I pick him up he is busy having fun with his friends in the playroom or excited to show me the "artwork" ;) he created. He snacks and naps just as he would at home.
We are especially happy with Catrina's sensitive and warm demeanor. Our son had a hard time being in someone else's care, after being home with me for 18 months. She worked patiently with him and us.
We appreciate her warm, professional, flexible and cooperative way of interacting with us as a family.

By Jennifer K on Mar 21, 2015

Archived Reviews:

Aug 2013

I cannot recommend Kita on Kains highly enough. My 2 year old daughter had been at home with me full time, and had separation issues. Catrina worked with us, and now my child is able to stay all morning, without noticing that she misses me! She worked with my daughter, and other children, teaching them basic German language skills. She provides healthy organic snacks, and offers a play based curriculum. Catrina has always been approachable, and knows kids-she is able to give excellent advice. Catrina

Aug 2013

My three year old daughter was one of the first wave of kids through Catrina Sheen's Kita on Kains. Catrina is warm and fun, and it is clear that the children in her care love and trust her. She has also recruited a group of smart and nurturing assistants to help her run the cozy home-based daycare. Dropping my daughter there in the morning often felt more like leaving her at a friends house for a playdate than a contractual caregiving relationship. Her play-based program provides many enriching activities like song and dance (Catrina is a trained dancer and plays acoustic guitar), reading, crafts and pretend play.

I was interested to see how much of the language my daughter would pick up, coming from an exclusively English-speaking household. It was astonishing how much she learned and understood by the end of her 7 months in Catrina's care. The language is never forced on the children, there were a number of others there without German parents. Instead, Catrina works vocabulary into songs and events in their daily routines.

I highly recommend Kita on Kains to anyone considering daycare for their child, but particularly to those interested in the cognitive advantages gained by early exposure to a second language.
Liz

Aug 2013

Our daughter attended kita on kains for 6 months and we are very pleased. It is part of our happy family life to know our child is safe and content at times we can't be with her. Catrina has definitely made sure of this but has on top offered our daughter an environment where she could experience countless hours of discovering the world at her own pace, self-expression, exploring, silliness, getting messy, and making friends. If you are looking for a place where your child can be herself while gently being introduced to a structured routine, kita on kains is the right fit for you.

Nov 2012

We would like to highly recommend Kita on Kains. Catrina took care of our 2-year-old son for several months. She is one of those caregivers who truly has a gift for working with small children. Her home is full of love, music, laughter, and calm. Her background in child development, dance, and languages and her naturally creative and soothing energy help her create an enriching experience for the kids. She is endlessly patient and helps them positively solve conflicts and explore new activities. She balances safe routines with curiosity and humor. Our son loves Catrina, and so do we! Any kid would be lucky to spend his or her days learning and playing at Kita on Kains.

Oct 2012

Amazing German daycare

I would like to recommend the licensed daycare of my former nanny Catrina, Catrina is an experienced nanny/preschool teacher with a background in teaching dance and preschool. She is bilingual in German and English. She took care of my 5 and 3 year old daughters for 7 months while I worked full- time. She talked exclusively in German to them. She took them on outings to the park and to places like Habitot. She let them do crafts and baking at home. She placed an emphasis on singing and making music together which is her passion. She is educated in singing and making music. She also prepared organic and wholesome snacks. With her love for detail and her personal warmth she created a warm and nuturing environment in which my kids could thrive.

Oct 2012

Join our awesome German-language day care

About a year ago, we found our ideal childcare situation: a nanny share with a German-speaking caregiver, since Papa is a first-generation German-American. Now, Catrina is expanding to offer a toddler/preschool home day care at her home in Albany, called KiTa on Kains, and has immediate openings.

We very much support this shift, and we can't speak highly enough of the care that Catrina has provided for our now 16-month-old over the past year. Catrina studied dance and education in Germany and studied Early Childhood Education at Merritt College. Since immigrating to the US in 2002, she has worked in several preschools, dance and German language schools in the Bay Area, including Shan Yee Poon Ballet School, the Bay Area Kinderstube and the German School of San Francisco.

Anneliese's first words have included ''wow wow'' (German for ''bow wow'') and ''Baum'' (German for ''tree'') along with ''nein nein noooo'' when she really doesn't like something. They spend lots of time outdoors in the garden and I think Anneliese prefers Catrina's cooking to ours. We invite you to check out the website at www.kitaonkains.com and join this growing community of happy, German-speaking children! I am glad to provide further information offline as well.
Shannon

Sept 2012

I would like to recommend the licensed daycare of my former nanny Catrina, Catrina is an experienced nanny/preschool teacher with a background in teaching dance and preschool. She speaks German and English. She took care of my 5 and 3 year old daughters for 7 months while I worked full-time. She spoke exclusively in German with my kids. She took them on outings to the park and to places like Habitot. She let them do crafts and baking at home. She placed an emphasis on singing and making music together which is her passion. She is educated in singing and making music. She also prepared organic and wholesome snacks. With her love for detail and her personal warmth she created a warm and nuturing environment in which my kids could thrive.